


Quality Shrimp Time

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Shrimp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 00:31:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11703048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: “This is a…” Tohru trails off. She crinkles up her nose before brightening. “Ah! This is what you call a threesome!”Momiji nods enthusiastically.“NO.” Kyo looks horrified. “Tohru. That is not what that means.”“A triple person date of shrimp extravaganza,” Momiji improvises. “A casual lunch between three people who love each other very much and also love shrimp but not leeks.”Or, the one where Momiji asks Kyo and Tohru out and things sort of spiral from there.





	Quality Shrimp Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kay_obsessive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_obsessive/gifts).



Tohru and Kyo have been dating for maybe a few weeks when Momiji makes his move. And it’s a bold move—not one he thinks any of his classmates would understand, or even many of his family members—but he thinks that since it’s Tohru and Kyo maybe they’ll get it. And either way, he knows they at least won’t be cruel. Kyo might freak out and Tohru might be sad and pitying, which would be almost as bad, but they won’t use this against him. After all, they’ve accepted his oddities before.

This is how it goes: Momiji comes to see them at Shigure’s house. After some initial conversation with Shigure and Yuki, he says he is really there to talk to Tohru and Kyo. And while Yuki looks confused at that, Shigure winks and tells him to look on the roof.

(Shigure has always been able to tell what’s going on in Momiji’s mind better than most, as regards Kyo and Tohru at least. Momiji sometimes wonders if he had similar feelings for Hatori and Ayame back in the day. But it doesn’t really matter—clearly if he did, they didn’t go anywhere. And it’s none of Momiji’s business.)

So Momiji finds them on the roof. He wonders if he will find them kissing (that’s a thing you do once you’re dating, though he hasn’t caught them at it yet)but they’re just sitting there together, staring up at the sky, a couple feet apart. Tohru is grinning with her eyes half closed. Kyo is wearing a rueful scowl. They’ve probably been arguing about something, but nothing serious. Momiji calls out to them, and they turn around.

Tohru says, “Momiji! We haven’t seen you in so long.”

He can tell she’s holding back the urge to hug him. But he doesn’t really want to turn into a rabbit on the roof. Hurriedly he turns to Kyo. “Kyo, you have to hug me quick. Otherwise, Tohru might die.”

Still scowling but now also blushing, Kyo hugs him. He says, “Fine, but only for Tohru, brat.” But he hugs Momiji tightly, and Momiji wonders if he has missed Momiji too.

Momiji, of course, has missed both of them equally, though in different ways. He always misses Tohru’s listening ear when he is away from her for a while, and the way she supports him even when he gets upset at the other, older members of the family. She never tells him how he should feel but always hears him out patiently. She is serious when he needs to be serious, and cheerful when he wants to be happy. Truly selfless. Sometimes he feels bad for taking advantage of her, but he knows she will always forgive him.

The way he misses Kyo is a bit more bothersome. He feels guilty when he hasn’t seen Kyo in a while. He worries about him. Part of him feels like Kyo will get locked up because he is the cat while Momiji is not watching. Or that some disaster will befall him—he always does seem to attract trouble, after all. But he also misses Kyo in a more selfish way. He’s a good friend, one of Momiji’s oldest as a distant family member, and also, and especially lately, a very attractive young man. The kind of man Momiji used to think he wanted to be before he realized the feeling he got around guys like Kyo was a different kind of desire entirely.

It has been almost a whole minute and Kyo is still hugging him. As much as Momiji likes the physical contact, it is beginning to get awkward. Tohru, in particular, is blushing even harder than Kyo now. So it’s time to get down to business.

Momiji says, “Wanna go on a date?”

* * *

 

A half hour later they’re at a restaurant Tohru suggested. The moment the waitress comes over she shouts something about “the entire shrimp platter, please!” without even waiting for Momiji and Kyo to give their input. Then she stutters out that of course if they want something else that’s fine. But Momiji is too buzzed to really think about food and judging by the tight expression on Kyo’s face he feels the same.

“How did you know they had a shrimp platter?” Momiji asks when the waitress is gone.

Tohru smiles in that bright way of hers and says, “I overheard some girls talking about this place the other day! It’s the most popular place in town for double dates. You get romantic food in gigantic portions.”

“Yes, but this isn’t a double date,” Kyo says. “It’s a…”

There is an awkward silence. They didn’t actually discuss what it was before leaving. Tohru just exclaimed that it sounded like a great idea and Kyo muttered something under his breath but went to fetch his coat with no reluctance. And Momiji has been sort of winging it and hoping it somehow pulls itself together eventually.

“A…” Tohru trails off. She crinkles up her nose before brightening. “Ah! This is what you call a threesome!”

Momiji nods enthusiastically.

“NO.” Kyo looks horrified. “Tohru. That is not what that means.”

“A triple person date of shrimp extravaganza,” Momiji improvises. “A casual lunch between three people who love each other very much and also love shrimp but not leeks.”

“Uh…Closer?”

“I lied.” Momiji leans over the table to talk to Kyo close up. “I’m wearing my dress shoes. It’s not casual.”

Kyo inspects Momiji’s shoes, then sighs and gives up. Tohru and Momiji drop the subject easily as well. Hey, as long as there’s plenty of shrimp for all, why does it matter?

Unfortunately, it turns out there is not enough shrimp after all. Well, there would have been enough for any other group but Momiji and Kyo are…growing, and they like a lot of food, and of course Tohru needs some lunch as well. Momiji eats more than either of the others, drawing a comment from Kyo about how rabbits aren’t supposed to be carnivorous. Kyo likes fish, of course, so he eats as fast as he can, but Momiji just eats much faster. Unfortunately this leads to Tohru getting nearly nothing.

Kyo scowls at Momiji, who still has five shrimp on his plate but is carefully hoarding them. “Stop being so greedy. Tohru hasn’t eaten anything.”

“I’m fine,” Tohru protests.

Kyo glares at Momiji, who sheepishly hands Tohru the plate but then makes tearful bunny eyes at her until she hands it back. Of course then he laughs and hands it back again, telling her he has had enough.

Tohru eats the last five shrimp undisturbed.

“Really, I don’t see how you eat that much,” Kyo says.

“It doesn’t matter,” Momiji says. Standing up with a jolt, he says, “I’m paying!”

“Do you have the money?” Tohru asks worriedly.

“Of course! I got myself a part time job, and…”

Kyo smacks him lightly on the head. “Idiot. I’m paying.” He has stood up too, and he still towers over Momiji. “On a date, of course the man should pay.”

“But I am a man.”

“You’re a bunny.”

“Well, you’re only a cat.” On seeing Kyo’s wince, Momiji immediately qualifies, “But a very sexy cat who we all love who should absolutely pay for the date because we love him!”

“Yay Kyo!” Tohru says, clapping her hands together.

But the shrimp platter is unexpectedly expensive, and Kyo does not have enough money with him. Momiji and Kyo, in the end, are forced to split the bill.

“Does that mean it’s not a date anymore?” Momiji worries.

Tohru shakes her head. “No, no. I didn’t pay so it’s still a date.”

“Ah. Good.”

* * *

 

It does not exactly become a regular thing. But only in the sense that nothing in the Sohma family is ever regularly scheduled except what is ordered by Akito. Sometimes Momiji drops in and takes Kyo and Tohru on dates. Sometimes they call him up and tell him to join them for a movie.

And sometimes he hangs out with them separately still. Tohru likes going shopping with him. Kyo sometimes begrudgingly helps him with a class project or homework.

They still don’t talk all that much about what it is. Tohru and Momiji, when in conversation, call their dates together with Kyo “quality shrimp time” even though they never go to the shrimp place again. The rest of the family thinks they’ve all become very close friends, and that’s not exactly inaccurate, so none of the three bothers correcting them.

Things are all going very smoothly (albeit slowly) until Momiji kisses Kyo on the lips.

* * *

 

It is almost an accident.

They are all three of them out for a walk in the woods. The evening is coming but it is not quite night yet, not too buggy. Momiji came over this evening expecting perhaps to watch a movie and have fun, but Tohru and Kyo are in a somber mood. They talk very little. Momiji asks if he should go, if they would rather be alone, but they immediately tell him no, he should stay. They would not lie about that.

So he assumes his presence is doing some good, but they have been walking down this path between the trees for almost half an hour now and they have still said very little and he is starting to worry.

But just as he is about to suggest they turn around and head back maybe, since they aren’t really having a good evening, Kyo says, “Akito visited yesterday.”

Shit.

“Somehow he found out about us,” Kyo says. “I don’t know how.” He’s scowling. That should be bad, but compared to the neutral, distant look that’s been pasted on his face all evening, it’s a relief. “Could have been the damn rat…”

“Yuki would never,” Tohru protests. She has a maternal instinct toward Yuki, after all. “He must have heard from someone else.”

Momiji wonders if perhaps it is someone on his end who has slipped with the information. He lives in close contact with a good number of Sohmas, after all. But ultimately it hardly matters who let it out—what really matters is how Akito reacted. He asks.

“He yelled at us,” Kyo says with a shrug. “The way I expected him to do when Tohru and I first…but anyways, he just said a lot of bullshit about Tohru corrupting more family members and how she should stop trying to break the curse and we would both come back to him, blah blah blah.”

Momiji shakes his head. It is true that many family members, after getting to know Tohru, have become more independent from the Sohmas. But her influence is more calming than corrupting. Moreover, for him at least his attempts at independence have less to do with Tohru and more to do with growing up, beginning to see things the way they really are. He doesn’t know how it is for all the others, but Hatsuharu feels much the same as him at the very least, and so does Kagura as far as he knows. If anyone, Yuki might be said to be the most influenced by Tohru in that way, and he’s not a part of their special shrimp trio. But then, Yuki is very fragile. It is certainly better if Akito stays away from him.

Though his going after Tohru is awful. And Momiji wasn’t there this time to stop it. It reminds him of that night at the beach house, some time ago now. When Akito showed up in the middle of the night ready to take Tohru on with all his rage, and Momiji couldn’t stand between them.

And that night, Tohru ended up being the one to comfort Momiji as he cried. Even though he tried to protect her, it was always she who ultimately protected him.

He bites his lip at the memory, then smiles at Tohru. “Akito doesn’t speak for me.”

Tohru says, “I know.” But she looks at Kyo and said, “Akito said some terrible things about Kyo.”

Kyo shrugs. “Nothing important. I don’t care what that asshole says anyway.”

Momiji says, “What was it, then?”

Tohru looks at Kyo. She won’t say if he doesn’t want her to, that much is clear. Tohru always respects people’s privacy. At times like these it is inconvenient.

Kyo doesn’t give her a sign of approval. Instead he starts talking himself. “He said that Tohru was shallow and would leave me anyways. He said I belonged to him and him alone. He said that even the rest of the Sohma family hated me, and that you hated me behind my back, and eventually you would leave me to be confined and forget me. And that you were better off without me and I was a waste of everyone’s time but he would be nice to me when everyone was gone.” He clenches his fist. “The same old shit. I just…I fucking freezed up. I should have said something, and instead I just stood there and he went after Tohru.”

Momiji says, “Akito is mean.”

Kyo laughs and nods.

“But you know that isn’t true, right? We’re never going to let you be confined. And I always think that you’re worth my time. Because you’re an amazing person, and I’m never giving up on you again.”

Kyo nods. He doesn’t answer.

Momiji says, “And that’s because I love you, Kyo.”

Kyo freezes. That’s it, he just freezes in the pathway. No walking, no movement except the trembling of his body. For a long moment, he is only stillness. Then he growls, “I wish you wouldn’t joke about everything.”

Momiji steps ahead in the path to face him, to study his red face and his wild eyes. His expression is more neutral than it often is, but that only makes the little tells more obvious. He is about to fly apart. This is the part where Tohru would usually do something—she always knows what to do to put things and people back together—but she’s standing behind him doing nothing, and Momiji acts on instinct and does the one thing he’s wanted to do ever since the first date, ever since long before then. He gently holds Kyo’s reddened face still, cups it between his hands, and tenderly kisses his lips.

 Tohru takes in a sharp breath.

Momiji only holds the kiss very briefly but when he leans back he does not let go of Kyo’s face. Kyo’s expression has gone dazed, and his mouth is slightly opened. Momiji slides his hands down to his shoulders, where he can get a firm grip without intruding too much on Kyo’s space. He anchors Kyo until Kyo comes to himself enough to push him away.

He lets himself be pushed, and he watches Kyo turn around and head back down the path they’ve been walking, at first with a purposefully slow pace but soon breaking into a run. He watches, Tohru by his side, until Kyo is out of sight.

“We should give him space,” he says.

Tohru nods. “I think you probably helped. But he always needs time.”

“He needs to figure things out for himself,” Momiji says ruefully. “He’s always been like that.” He sighs. “Geez, maybe I shouldn’t have kissed him! I don’t think he was in the mood for it.”

“I’m sure he returns your feelings. He just has a hard time accepting that people love him. He’s the same way about me.”

Momiji says, “What do you think about my feelings?”

The only warning Momiji gets is that Tohru takes a deep breath. And then she steps forward, firmly grasps his collar, and hauls him down to press a polite little kiss on his lips. She’s more puckish about it than Momiji was when kissing Kyo. It’s still bewildering, and Momiji understands exactly how Kyo must have felt.

“That was my first kiss with a girl,” Momiji says.

Tohru blushes violently. “Was it? Oh dear.” Then she gasps. “Then was Kyo your first kiss with a boy?”

Momiji nods. The blushing is contagious.

“We deflowered you,” Tohru exclaims. “I am so sorry! Please forgive me!” She bows so quickly that her hair flops. Momiji has to giggle.

“Well, we are dating,” he says.

“Oh, you’re right. If we’re dating, is it okay then?”

“I don’t know, I liked it.” He bows now as well. “Thank you for teaching me how to kiss a girl. It was a good experience.”

Tohru stutters, “You’re—you’re welcome.”

After a long awkward silence, they turn back towards the house by unspoken consent. As they walk, Momiji hesitantly holds out his hand to Tohru. He has never been so shy about touching her before.

She takes it.

* * *

 

Momiji gives Kyo some space. He does not visit Shigure’s household for a week, or try to speak to Kyo in class. He only speaks to Tohru a little, too. The memory of the small kiss they shared makes him tingle all over when he thinks about it, but he doesn’t want to move forward without Kyo. It would feel wrong.

And then one day as he heads out after school, Kyo intercepts him (with a headlock) and tells him he’s coming home with Kyo and Tohru today. He makes a token protest but is happy to agree.

They sit on the roof. The sky is beginning to get cloudy, but the forecast says it will not rain until tomorrow. Momiji appreciates the shade.

“Do you kiss other people?” Kyo says.

“I kissed Tohru.”

“Other than us, I mean. Do you third wheel with lots of people? Is that just a thing you do because it’s fun?”

“Kyo! Don’t be silly. And it’s not third wheeling.”

“Well then, what is it?”

Momiji kisses Tohru, but only on the forehead. “Stealing your girl. And,” he adds, taking Kyo’s hand. “Stealing you.” He drops a kiss on Kyo’s knuckles.

“You little brat,” Kyo mutters. “Stop acting like a gentleman.” Shaking his head, he says, “I love you too.”

Tohru makes a strange keening sound. When Momiji turns to her, her eyes are beginning to tear up. “I’m just so happy. Let’s keep loving each other and being together like this, no matter what. I want to feel this way forever.”

And that’s really all there is to say. So Momiji hugs her, and of course he turns into a rabbit. And with a sob Tohru grabs Kyo for a hug too and he turns into a cat. And then they both try to squeeze onto Tohru’s lap at once, which really doesn’t work, and end up sitting next to her on separate sides, with her petting both of them.

“This is nice,” Momiji says. “But sooner or later we’re going to turn back and we’re both going to be naked.”

“Kid,” Kyo says. “We’ve all seen each other naked too many times to count at this point.”

“We haven’t seen Tohru naked. Isn’t that unfair?”

Tohru frowns. She is clearly beginning to consider whether or not she needs to strip to preserve equality. Kyo says, “No. And when you turn back you will put your clothes on immediately.”

“You’re no fun.”

“We’re dating, not having an orgy,” Kyo mutters.

“Ah! Tohru, Kyo said the word orgy.”

Tohru laughs. “I love you both.” And she is staring at the sky, where the sun is beginning to set, and Momiji knows that even though they will soon turn back and the moment will be broken, she will never care that the curse intrudes upon these private moments, disturbing and wild. She loves a rabbit and a cat and still sees them both as human, and that is the reason he wants to be by her side. For the way she sees him, for what she is to Kyo. For what the three of them are together—an odd combo platter to be sure, but to him always savory and filling.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! I wrote this fic for the Tohru/Momiji/Kyo option on the request. I'm not entirely sure it meets the ideas requested: I was trying for Momiji joining Kyo/Tohru as the established couple, this occurring during the course of the series, and on your general likes, a slice of life fic combined with developing relationships. But in the end it's pretty much just a "They get together" sort of fic.  
> Moreover, I worry this fic might be kind of OOC and probably AU because I haven't read much of the series in a while and while I reread some of the manga to prepare, it may not have been enough. Definitely AU in that the time frame where this occurs is really fuzzy and probably would never work! So hopefully it's good enough to pass.  
> Other than that, it was fun writing about this odd ship. I've never even seen them before, and I've certainly never read a fic for them. So exploring the dynamic was interesting. I hope you enjoyed.  
> Comments and kudos would be much appreciated :)


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